


Demons

by wanderlust12



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Insane Asylum AU, crazy zayn, subtext narry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-15
Updated: 2015-02-25
Packaged: 2018-03-07 18:16:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3178328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wanderlust12/pseuds/wanderlust12
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Louis expected crazy but not to get wrapped up in it himself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Day One

It was late and Louis had half a paragraph, maybe, written for his creative writing final for Uni. He stared at it solemnly before shutting his computer and throwing his head back with a theatrical groan.

“Niall, I’m dying.” 

The other boy was perched at the other end of the couch with a PlayStation controller in his hands and half a piece of mushroom topped pizza hanging from his mouth. 

“What is it this time, Lou?” Niall mumbled around the food, eyes staying glued to the television. It would be barely comprehensible by anyone else, but Louis was truly amazed at how quickly he’d learned to decipher the language of Niall. He made sure to put it at the top of all his résumés. 

“This bloody paper. I can’t get anything written. It’s your fault, too, Niall.” Louis stated with a nod and now Niall paused the game to look at the older boy with offended eyes. His eyebrows raised, asking how it could possibly be his fault. “If you were interesting then maybe I could write this damn paper. But no, you’re boring.” The smaller, yet older, boy informed him.

“Excuse you, I am the epitome of interesting.” Niall said through a mouthful of pizza, setting the controller down on the coffee table. When he moved to sit back he grunted from the extra weight of Louis flinging his full body on top of his. 

“If you were then this paper would be done by now.” Louis grumbled, mentally surprised that Niall even knows what the word epitome means, and stayed starfished on top of him, huffing out a sigh. “Your pizza toppings aren’t even interesting.” 

“They are too! Mushrooms are interesting! It would’ve been boring if I had gotten pepperoni, but I didn’t.” Niall huffed in his Irish lilt and accepted his fate of being smothered as he stared up at the ceiling. When Louis didn’t respond he spoke up again. “Maybe you need a new person to write about, then.” 

“Where am I going to find someone interesting enough to write a paper about? No where. You were my only hope and you let me down Leprechaun.” Louis nodded. “Plus, who is even interesting enough to be able to write like ten pages about?” 

“I don’t know Lou, why don’t you go bother Liam or something? I’m sure he’s interesting enough.” 

At that Louis sat up so quickly it was shocking he didn’t get whiplash.

“You’re a genius, Niall!” 

Louis left his computer on the coffee table as he ran for his room to change. He couldn’t believe that he didn’t think of it first. Of course Liam would be the perfect person to talk to for this paper. He worked in a mental institution and was sure to have some interesting stories that would help fill up ten pages. So, with a notebook in hand, Louis ventured out to meet his muse. 

~

“Hi, Kat.” A wide grin splits Louis’ face as he pushes past the massive glass doors, huffing out a breath as he passes the receptionist desk. Louis gives a quick wave to the older woman with curly red hair, seeing her roll her eyes fondly.

“He’s in the male ward, should be about to go on his rounds. He’ll be in the rec room to get the meds.” Was all she said in reply, smiling widely as he went off. He turned to the left, walking down the lengthy corridor that led to the male ward. Windows and nurses passed by until he turned down a shorter hall that led to a pair of double swinging doors that opened to the rec room.

The rather large room was filled with tables lined up, one after another. They were long with the shorter side pushed against the walls, games on top of each one. Patients were scattered around, some playing the games, some throwing the pieces about, others simply staring at the walls and mumbling to themselves. The legs to each table were bolted down. They hadn’t always been though. After a few patients had rioted and tried to break out by smashing the windows with the tables, precautions had been taken. The tables had been bolted down and the windows barred up.

There were some who stared at Louis as he walked through the room, watching as he looked around for that familiar boy with short brown hair and eyes to match. Louis scanned the room, smiling at the patients whom he made eye contact with. He let out a breath when he saw Liam, grinning as he bounced over to his side. Louis took in his bright white uniform that fit to Liam’s body perfectly, the sleeves tight around his biceps and pants curving without flaw along his bum.

Louis didn’t even think about what he’s doing as he smacked Liam’s bum with a mischievous smile. Watching Liam jump made him let out a slight cackle.

“Hey, Kyle, I thought we talked-” Liam started but instantly stopped when he saw the shorter boy laughing behind him.

“So, Liam, who’s this Kyle?” He asked with an amused grin.

“It’s not important. He’s just- it’s been- what are you doing here?” Liam asked as he shook his head, focusing on getting the meds for the patients arranged on the small cart in front of him and checking the clipboard in his hand.

“Well, I have this paper for school that I have to do so I need you to be interesting.” Louis nodded as he jumped up to sit on the edge of one of the long tables. He set the notebook down beside him as he swung his legs like a child. 

Liam simply shook his head with a fond smile before continuing to arrange the different medicines on his cart. There was the quiet murmur of the patients milling around in the background to fill in the silence as he waited for Liam’s response.

“I would love to help you with your paper.” He started and Louis perked up with a wide grin. “But I have a lot of work to do right now.” Liam finished and Louis drooped his shoulders like a wilted plant. “Maybe later, yeah?” 

“Fine.” Louis huffed and dropped down off the table as Liam went to start on his rounds. After a few moments of weighing his options on what he could do until Liam got back, he decided that wandering aimlessly would be much better than sitting alone in a corner with everyone staring at him. With all those eyes on him, it would probably make him feel like he was going crazy.

~

He had left his notebook out in the rec room, figuring it wouldn’t really matter if someone got into it. Louis’ hands were buried in his pockets as he walked down one of the long hallways that was lined on either side with patients’ rooms. Louis glanced into each one through the small rectangular window on the doors, chewing his lip. 

One of the doors opened just as he got to it, a couple nurses quickly exiting the room and briskly walking past Louis. They didn’t give him a second look as he watched them go. When he tore his stare away and glanced into the room, he caught the gaze of a boy with raven-black hair and golden brown eyes. 

The boy was sitting cross legged on the bed, hands resting in his lap as he stared right back at Louis. The door clicked shut, but Louis didn’t hear it lock like it automatically should. The boy simply watched him with rather intimidating eyes. After a few more seconds Louis was able to look away to see all the dark images covering the walls.

This boy was definitely interesting.

That was the first thought to pass through his head. He scanned over the images of random faces, some drawn with only charcoal, others having charcoal and a bit of red coloring.

Everything inside Louis was telling him to run. To get as far away from this room as he possibly could. But that’s usually what his head tells him to do before he does something he knows he shouldn’t. After looking up and down the hall, Louis quickly moved to poke his head in.

“Um... Hi.” He smiled and carefully closed the door behind him. The boy didn’t say a word, watching the stranger with a slight tilt to his head, causing a strand of dark locks to fall into his eyes. 

Louis took a moment to take in his features. There was a shock of black hair on his head, it brushed back with just a strand falling out of place. His sharp cheekbones seemed even more defined in the unforgiving harsh fluorescent light. He didn’t look much younger than twenty, maybe even being the same age as Louis. He was slim, back curved as he sat slumped in his spot, not once looking away from Louis. His eyes were intelligent, observant. It was almost as if he was watching every move that Louis made and anticipating his next one.

“I’m-” Louis cleared his throat. “My name’s Louis.” He nodded and smiled again, not sure if he should stick his hand out for a handshake. The boy was still silent as he watched Louis fidget like a child who had done something wrong and was anxiously waiting to be caught. 

Louis gave the boy a chance to reply. A wave of awkwardness crashed down on him as he just stood in the scrutinizing stare, hands pushed deep in the pockets of his jeans. Louis’ blue eyes flicked around the room, glancing over the multiple drawings. Louis wondered what each one meant to the mysterious boy. 

The boy was quiet and it was unsettling. Louis had been expecting a name in reply... or at least some sort of greeting. Maybe he’d just have to coax it out of him.

“Do you have a name?” Louis asked and gave the best friendly smile that he could muster up. Nothing. The boy didn’t answer and Louis was beginning to regret every decision he’d ever made. Why did he even think this was a good idea? He didn’t know anything about the person sitting two feet away from him. God knows why he was in here to begin with. Louis glanced from the door to the boy, seeing the calculating look in those golden brown eyes. Louis couldn’t deny that he was, more or less, attracted to this mysterious human being. Surely there were enough captivating aspects about him to have ten pages of interesting spill out onto paper.

Even though that all sounded fantastic in theory, his notebook was still out in the rec room. Also, it didn’t seem like he was much into talking. Maybe, Louis should, for once in his twenty-three years of living, do something smart and just go wait for Liam. He should forget about walking into this random room and about the patient that did nothing but stare at him. Forget him no matter how absolutely enticing he was. 

With a curt nod of his head and one last look at the patient he turned to leave, hand grabbing the doorknob and pulling open the door. He had one foot out of the room when he finally heard the boy speak. His voice was deep and thick with a Bradford accent. 

“Zayn. I’m Zayn.” 

When Louis looked back over his shoulder at Zayn he saw the smirk planted on his face. He watched him for a moment and nodded, smiling slightly before fully exiting the room and heading back out to the rec room to sit and wait.

~

Nearly an hour passed before Liam had returned, having a moment to sit and talk with Louis. But it wasn’t a big deal to Louis that he had to wait. He had been distracted by a tall, curly haired boy sitting alone on the other side of the room. The boy had been playing with a deck of cards, playing a few games of solitaire before moving on to coloring. This patient seemed around the same age as Louis, just like Zayn. He had seen him quite a few times around the hospital over the years. Liam had started working here about two years ago and Louis was sure this boy had been here since before then. Just as Liam came in to sit across from him, the curly-haired boy glanced up, locking stares with Louis. Almost instantly the kid looked away, making himself look smaller as he focused on coloring. 

“Who’s that?” Louis asked curiously and nodded in his direction. Liam furrowed his brows and looked over his shoulder. 

“Oh, that’s Harry. Family issues and horrible anxiety. Poor guy jumps at any loud sound and apologizes for everything, even if it’s not his fault. I think he’s like twenty.” Liam nodded and turned back to face Louis. “But anyway, this paper of yours, what’s it about?” 

“It has to be on someone I know and it has be interesting. It’s like a biography, I guess.” Louis furrowed his brows and nodded at his words. “But like, I wanted to do it on Niall, but he’s boring. So then I was gonna ask to do it on you, but there’s this patient...” Louis trailed off and grinned at him. 

“I- Louis, no. I don’t think it’s a good idea to go invade Harry’s space and ask him a whole bunch of questions.” Liam instantly replied. “He’s extremely paranoid and if you start attacking him he might-” 

“I don’t want to do it on him. I want to do the paper on this other patient. I met him when you were off on your rounds. His name’s Zayn.” Louis explained and watched Liam’s face to gauge his response. Depending on how Liam reacted, Louis would be able to tell if he was balanced enough to interview. 

“Zayn? I don’t know of any Zayn’s here...” Liam murmured and chewed his lip, face scrunched up as he thought. “Either way,” he said as he still came up blank, unable to put a face to the name. “I just don’t think it’s a good idea. You don’t know what will make the patient snap.” 

“Look, I appreciate you looking out for me and all, Payno, but I don’t think it’s that bad of an idea. I mean I was already in his room, he told me his name...” Louis nodded and furrowed his brows. “I mean, he seems harmless.”

Louis rolled his eyes at the look on Liam’s face, feeling a lecture coming on from his comment about being in Zayn’s room and also for wandering off. 

“Fine, yeah, I won’t talk to him, okay? Please don’t lecture me like a five year old. I understand. He’s off limits.” Louis huffed and shifted in his seat, grabbing for his notebook. “But he’d be super easy to write about.” Louis muttered before opening to a clean page and starting his questions. 

After getting a down a bit of information and getting distracted by thoughts of a dark, mysterious boy, Louis decided it was probably best to head home. He checked the time on his phone, seeing it was eleven thirty. A heavy sigh fell past his lips after shutting his notebook, dropping his head to press his forehead against the cover. He had walked here and when it was only eight o’clock, it wasn’t that big of a deal. But now it was nearly midnight and Louis was more than aware of how small and easily muggable he was. 

~

“Leemo, can I borrow some money for a cab ride home?” 

Liam smirked a bit and shook his head at the smaller boy, reaching into his pocket for some cash. After Louis told him how much it usually cost, he grabbed the dollars from his hand with a quick ‘thanks’ before getting up to leave. 

“Hey, Louis, I know how you are about situations like this. Please just leave it. Don’t sneak around to try and do this story on this Zayn person, okay?” Liam sighed as he stood from the table, going over to walk Louis out.

“Of course, Liam, when have I ever done something I wasn’t suppose to?” Louis smiled with mock innocence and gave a playful wink before going off down the hall to the main entrance. “Bye Kat!” he called, waving over his shoulder as he stepped out to flag down a cab.


	2. Day Two

The night before, when Louis had been telling the blonde boy about his adventures at the hospital Niall hadn't really been paying attention. He had been more focused on his game which had led Louis to demand his undivided attention.

Louis talked about wandering off while Liam worked. About seeing the nurses leaving a patient's room. About going into it even though he knew it was dangerous and that the patient was beautiful. He didn't spare the boy any detail about what the patient looked like and told him about how intimidating he was. Louis saved his name for last.

Zayn.

Just the way it rolled off his tongue intrigued him. He talked animatedly about how perfectly the name suited the dark, mysterious boy. Louis couldn't help that all he talked about was that boy. He blamed Liam for telling him to stay away. They both knew it would just make Louis want to talk to Zayn even more.

And in order to sneak past Liam, Louis needed a distraction. And Louis had been talking so excitedly, so quickly, that Niall struggled to keep up and ended up just agreeing to whatever Louis had been saying. Which is never a good idea when it comes to Louis. But lucky for the older boy, Niall had yet to realize that.

But now they were both standing outside the hospital, shoulder to shoulder. There was strong skepticism in Niall's eyes as he glanced over the outside of the large building, chewing his lip and wondering how Louis convinced him to go along with this crazy plan. Louis was grinning a shit-eating grin, glancing from the front doors back to Niall. He was just about to make a comment to the younger boy when Niall turned and started heading back the same way he came.

"Well, I walked you here. It was great, we should do it again sometime. I'm gonna head home now. Have fun with the crazies!" Niall called over his shoulder, trying to walk faster as Louis hurried after him.

"Ni, come on! You promised!" Louis called as he hurried after him. Niall stopped and closed his eyes, shaking his head as he turned back to Louis. “Plus, that’s kinda offensive.” Louis added as an after thought, cocking an eyebrow at him.

“Louis, this is such a bad idea. Like you’ve had bad ideas before but a mental hospital for the criminally insane... this is by far the worst one you’ve had in a while. They’ve killed people.” He said before walking back to Louis’ side, taking a deep breath and heading inside with Louis right behind him.

“I’m actually quite offended by that.” Louis said and furrowed his brows. “And not all of them.”

They passed by Kat, waving hello after she told them that Liam was in the male ward again today.

“Yeah, well the truth hurts.” Niall mumbled before pushing open the swinging double doors to the rec room. “What if he’s busy? What if I can’t keep him distracted? You’re gonna be in deep shit, Louis.” Niall rambled as they looked around the room.

There were paper and crayons on every table and the scissors you give to little toddlers. The plastic kind where it surprises you that they even cut paper. There were even a few coloring books amongst the paper. Louis spotted Liam at one of the tables at the back of the room, talking to the boy with curly hair that he had asked about yesterday. He watched as Liam laid out a coloring book for him and gently pushed a box of crayons over to him. Niall gave Louis a look before going over to talk to Liam, leaving Louis to his plan.

After he was sure that Liam was completely distracted he turned and headed for the doors that led to the corridor of the patients’ rooms. He quickly searched for Zayn’s room, chewing his lip as he went along. It didn’t take long to find his room, spotting the drawings instantly. He tested the door knob and glanced around quickly before looking into the room through the small window. Zayn was hunched over at his little desk, back to the door. Louis took a few steadying breaths before knocking lightly on the door. He wasn’t sure if the boy had heard or not and was about to knock again when Zayn sat up a bit and turned his head just slightly towards the door. Louis’ gut told him that was his cue to come in and so he pushed open the door to step in.

“Hey.” Louis said and shoved his hands into his pockets as Zayn went back to whatever it was he was doing.

“Hello, Louis.” He said in his smooth voice, not turning around.

“How- um, how are you?” Louis asked, shifting anxiously from foot to foot.

“I’m decent, you?” He replied and finally sat back, turning in his seat to look up at blue eyed boy.

“I’m alright.” He nodded as he took in the faces scattered on the walls.

“How can I help you?” Zayn smirked as he watched the boy, moving to go sit on his bed, hands in his lap as he criss crossed his legs.

“I- who said I needed your help with something?” Louis replied to his question with a question, taken aback by the confidence in Zayn’s voice. It was like he knew what Louis was here for.

“Well, this is your second day here. I assumed there was a catch as to why you came back. Especially after your nurse friend told you not to.” He shrugged and smiled a bit. “I followed you and watched you when you left. I didn’t catch the whole conversation, just the end of it.” Zayn added when he saw the confused look plastered to Louis’ features.

“Oh.” Was all Louis said in response. A few moments of silence passed before Louis finally got up the courage to ask about the art on the walls. “So what do these all stand for? Like why do you draw so many faces?” Zayn’s face hardened for a moment and made Louis think that maybe he shouldn’t have asked. He didn’t even think about how personal of a question it could’ve been. But just as Louis was going apologize for his blunt question, Zayn spoke up.

“I can’t talk about the pictures here.” He said shortly and glanced at a few before looking back at Louis.

“What?” Louis asked incredulously.

“I said I can’t talk about the pictures here. It’s just not safe. There are dark creatures walking among us. If we talk here, they’ll hear us.” He said so earnestly that Louis almost believed him.

“Okay...” Louis murmured slowly and watched the boy warily. _Alright, crazy..._ Louis thought to himself and bit his lip. Every fiber inside Louis was telling him to turn around and walk right out of that room. He couldn’t deny, though, that his curiosity was growing and getting the better of him. Maybe if he had a reason to talk to Zayn, he would be more open to answering questions. “So, um, anyways,” Louis mindlessly kicked at the floor. “I have this paper that I need to write about someone interesting.”

“So you do need my help with something.” He smiled and nodded a bit, eyes sparkling under the flourescent lights.

“Well, it’s not necessarily help with something.” Louis mumbled and shrugged. “I just kinda want to write this paper on you, I guess..”

“Okay.”

There was a slight pause as Louis waited for Zayn to start laughing and tell him he was actually joking and to get out of his room.

“Okay? Like you don’t mind me asking you personal questions?”

“Nope.” He smiled and shrugged. “But don’t tell anyone about what we talk about.”

“Of course, yeah, I would never.” Louis quickly assured him, smiling slightly.

Louis couldn’t shake the feeling of being in over his head. He was sure he was biting off more than he could chew but still he didn’t back down. This boy was the perfect person to do this paper on. He was sure of that, too. There was no doubt that whatever was being hidden away behind those dark eyes would make the best story ever. Louis was also positive that he would be the perfect person to capture Zayn’s story. He could do Zayn justice.

There was a pause and silence settled between them as Louis slowly drifted towards the sketches. He was just about to reach out for one when he heard Liam's voice behind him.

"Lou? What are you doing in here? I thought I told you last time that you weren't allowed anywhere else but the rec room or with me." He said as he walked into the room, his classic parenting tone layering his voice as he went to pull Louis out into the hallway. He glanced back into the room, furrowing his brows.

"I'm sorry, Liam, but you know what happens when you say I can't do something." Louis replied with a smirk and a shrug, hiding his anger that was starting to boil up inside from Niall's failure to do his one job. All he had to do was talk to Liam and tell him that Louis was out doing something with some friends from school.

The main focus of the day was to just keep Liam from knowing that Louis was off walking around the hospital, that he was at the hospital at all. But as they walked through the double swinging doors to the rec room, Louis instantly saw why Niall hadn't done what he was suppose to. He was sitting beside the curly haired lad from last night. For a moment, Louis had to think again for what his name was before remembering what it was. He shook his head and crossed his arms before storming over to Niall’s side.

“Well, great fucking job you did, Leprechaun.” Louis snapped and glared down at the flaxen haired boy with a scowl. “Did you just forget the whole purpose of you being here?” Harry jumped at the harshness of Louis’ voice, the crayon in his hand jerking and dragging along to leave a colored trail out of the lines on his coloring book page. He let out a small breath and dropped the crayon, moving to scratch at the line of color on the paper.

“What?” Niall asked and looked up as he finished coloring in a small part of his page. “Oh. I was doing what you asked but then I met this lad. His name’s-”

“Harry, yes, I know. Liam told me yesterday.” Louis finished for him, rolling his eyes in annoyance. Harry shifted anxiously in his seat, still scratching at his drawing.

“I’m sorry, mate, alright? I don’t know what to tell you.” Niall muttered and frowned as he glanced over at Harry, seeing his shoulders slouched as he continued to claw at the mistake he made. “Hey, you alright?” He asked softly, reaching to lay a hand on Harry’s shoulder. As his hand made contact, Harry shot to his feet and knocked over his chair, drawing attention towards them all.

Liam was at his side within seconds. His voice was low and smooth, moving to sit the chair upright. He coaxed him back into the seat and knelt down to figure out what was wrong. Harry quietly gestured to the picture and glanced at Niall nervously, swallowing hard.

“‘Was coloring and he yelled. I jumped and messed up, just like I mess everything else up. She’s right. All I do is mess up.” He mumbled and kept his head down now, staring at the dash of color that was out of place. While Liam was distracted with relaxing a very distraught Harry, Niall watching curiously, Louis was called away by a voice whisper-shouting his name.

He glanced around before seeing a familiar face poking in at the entrance of the rec room. Zayn motioned him over quickly, glancing around before ducking out of the room and waiting. After making a quick beeline for the door, Louis joined Zayn out in the hallway.

“So you want to do this paper on me, yeah?” He asked in a hushed voice, making sure no one heard the words they shared. Louis simply nodded in response. “Alright, well come back on your friend’s day off. That way he won’t be here to look for you and we can talk a bit more. You know where my room is.” And with that Zayn went off, disappearing down the corridor back to his room.

 

“I told you that Liam was gonna find you.” Niall chuckled as he and Louis headed back to their flat.

“Um, excuse me, Niall, but my plan was flawless. You simply don’t know how to keep someone distracted. You have no idea how to do a simple job. Maybe that’s why you’re still unemployed at twenty-one.” Louis teased, chuckling as Niall punched his shoulder.

“Cheers, mate.” He laughed as they walked. “So, anyways, did you talk to that Zayn fella?” Louis smirked to himself as he nodded, thinking back to his new plan of sneaking in on Liam’s day off.

“Yeah, I did actually. I’m gonna go back in a couple days when Liam’s not working so that he won’t be like looking for me.” He nodded, chewing his lip and peering up at the other boy. “He told me though, that it wasn’t safe to talk about some stuff in his room. It’s kinda concerning, you know?”  
“Well, yeah, he’s insane. He’s literally in a mental hospital for the criminally insane. A court agreed that he was too unbalanced to go to jail for his punishment for whatever it was he did.” Niall stated as they finally arrived at the entrance to their flat complex. “Besides, didn’t you say he was like an artist or something?” Niall waited for Louis to nod his head, continuing his small speech once he did. “Maybe he’s not _crazy_ crazy, just artist crazy. Because I mean, didn’t Van Gogh like cut off his ear or something?”

The comment made Louis chuckle. But all jokes aside, this was a credible point. Maybe this would just mean that he wasn’t making up voices or seeing things. Maybe there was some validation behind the things Zayn had said about the safety of talking in his room.

As they walked into their flat it was all that Louis could think about. He went pass the couch, declining Niall’s offer for a round of Fifa. He had more important things on his mind. Because if Niall was right about the whole Zayn being artist crazy then maybe he was being honest, sure it would make him a bit eccentric, but still. Maybe there was more to this than what meets the eye.


End file.
